Neonicitinoids, PFAS, glyphosate and numerous other chemicals are becoming household words. We see them scroll across our TV screens and glare in newspaper headlines. We are facing a crisis created from the unintended consequences of the use of chemicals that have strayed beyond scientists’ original intentions. Chemists now warn of their dangers to our air, water and earth.
With the Environmental Protection Agency facing a proposed 52% budget cut, it’s clear citizen action is required.
I sat among a group of citizens from the Lakes Region who travelled to Concord to find out how the Pesticide Control Board intends to address concerns raised by recent legislative proposals aimed to protect our lakes, the seat on which our economy rests. Neonicitinoids — neonics for short — were center stage.
Real estate, fishing, swimming, boating and numerous enterprises related to the boating industry all come into play. One audience member commented that a potential guest made a detour when cyanobacteria warnings arose.
And then there is the matter of documented dangers, not only to a thriving fishery, the insects and crayfish it depends on, but to human health. Scientists have linked neurological diseases to the various cyanobacteria strains that are part of the present day lake environment. And pesticides linger.
The Control Board offered a presentation focused on agriculture. We were shown a photo of a commercial aviary, managed with neonics, that produces “healthy honey” from thriving bees. And were told that corn farmers would lose their crops to insects if chemicals were not applied.
Commissioner Shawn Jasper remained steadfast in his previously published opinion that to ban the industry wide sale of neonicitinoid coated seeds to farmers, a proposal that successfully made it through the NH House but stalled in the Senate (which passed it to the Board as the rule making authority), would be disastrous to the agricultural industry.
Asked whether the Board had access to studies of crops raised with uncoated seeds with which to analyze that assumption, he answered that it does not have staff to undertake research. Asked if a decision on such a ban would take information on the effects of neonicitinoids on human health into consideration, a board member commented that the EPA takes up that aspect.
Unfortunately, for fiscal year 2027, the White House is seeking to cut EPA funding by 52%. And last year, the EPA workforce was reduced by over 4,000, a reduction more than double the rate across the entire federal government.
The agency designed to provide the science with which to make regulatory decisions on behalf of clean air, water and earth has been greatly diminished. Not a single living being is unaffected.
But we are not without tools to protect environmental health. Nationwide advocacy from groups such as the UCC Climate Hope Affiliates, an award-winning faith based environmental advocacy group with a local chapter, engaged with New Hampshire’s congressional delegation, which helped push the vote successfully to reject the administration’s previously proposed reduction of 55%, limiting it instead to a 3.5% reduction. It will rise to the occasion again to advocate for fully funding the EPA in fiscal year 2027.
On the state level, Tonya Albee, of the Six Legged Society based in Wolfeboro, came away from the meeting pleased with the stated commitment from Jasper to move forward with rule making to restrict neonicotinoids on non-agricultural turf. “That means the path is open to get neonics off lawns and away from our lakes,” said Albee. Immediately afterwards, she commented that she would complete additional tests to provide information for the August 17 hearing and Rep. John MacDonald began making plans for pertinent bipartisan legislative proposals for the next legislative session. They both were buoyed by support and ready to move ahead, fully aware of the challenges.
At the national level, the UCC Climate Hope Affiliates learned from writing letters to local papers and establishing lines of communication with our members of Congress that there is hope for environmental stewardship. As a member of the Concord chapter, I want to publicly thank New Hampshire’s U.S. Representatives Maggie Goodlander and Chris Pappas, and Senators Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen for listening and responding to the call to care.
Policy needs science, and we count on the EPA to aid the decision makers the quality of our lives depend on.
Elissa Paquette lives in Wolfboro.